The Transit Maintenance Facility (TMF) is the first state-of-the-art “green” building built by City of Santa Clarita and was designed and constructed using a variety of high-quality, environmentally sensitive methods.
One of the peices from the California Bear Project is on-site.
The facility is also designed to accommodate more than 150 buses and nearly 160 staff with room for future expansion.
Design features that were incorporated in the Transit Maintenance Facility include: straw bale insulated exterior walls, under-floor heating and cooling systems, recycled building materials, water efficient landscaping, day lighting features, facility shading devices, high-efficiency lighting fixtures with motion sensors and daylight dimming controls, and compressed natural gas fuel technology.
TMF is 40% more energy-efficient than required by California’s Energy Code thanks to sustainable building methods, which help reduce operating costs and conserve natural resources.
In 2002, the City of Santa Clarita Transit committed to improving air quality in the community by converting its bus fleet from diesel running vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, which burn cleaner and produces less green house gases.
The energy-efficient building includes a 22,000 sq. ft. administration building, 25,000 sq. ft bus maintenance building, automated bus wash, diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, and an on-street CNG fueling station for use by the general public.
In 2011, with the help of a $4.6 million award through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transit Investments in Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) program, the City installed a 65,000 square foot solar power canopy system at the TMF.
More than 3,200 photovoltaic panels now cover the facility’s four bus ports. The canopies are expected to generate enough electric power to offset up to 97% of the facility’s electric use – equivalent to half of Santa Clarita Transit’s cumulative energy use.
For more information about the City of Santa Clarita’s Transit Maintenance Faciltiy, visit SantaClaritaTransit.com.
